New studio tour!

I spent last Thursday and Friday (which was why I was radio silent on Instagram) patching, sanding, painting, cleaning, sorting, organizing, building, craigslisting, and more, so that I finally have the studio of my dreams. I’m so excited – it’s so beautiful. I’m so inspired working in here today, and I’m so lucky I was able to create the studio I want after so long.Some of you who read my old blog on Lunsh may remember my studio from before and my gloomy, cluttered, sad studio photos. I was still really proud of the way it looked, but I was juggling two large piece of furniture given to me by my grandma, so working around that meant I had to make a lot of sacrifices for what I really wanted.

Having my space be exactly the way I like it is so, so important to me, especially now that I’m self-employed. I’ve always enjoyed design, no matter whether it’s product design, ux design, or interior design. I know my studio will forever be a work in progress (the floors are original to my 1929 apartment and desperately need to be refinished) but right now it’s exactly how I want it to be.

Okay, let’s go.

On one wall, I built these gorgeous ikea cabinets (the Ivar cabinets in the larger size) and added a pine plank that I painted white as a standing desk. Some yellow Tolix stool knock-offs makes it so I can grab a stool to keep going when my feet get tired of standing. At some point I would really love to remove the legs off the plank and add a few shelf brackets to have the desk be free-floating, but I don’t feel confident enough in how large and heavy that plank is. For now it’s okay. Underneath it is my Cricut and a laser Brother printer for printing out text documents.

The cabinets, of course, hold all sorts of art supplies, paints, office supplies, packing and shipping stuff, my scanner, some of Rob’s books and things… these cabinets hold so. much. stuff. I was able to clear out a whole desk and bookshelf worth of stuff into here, where everything can be neatly tucked away behind closed doors. Seriously, screw open shelving for anything that isn’t books or pretty things. It was an eyesore, and I’m glad I have doors to shut away all that stuff.

Hanging above the desk is the first dollar bill I ever made off my art!

Here’s a better view when you’re actually standing. We built it a bit taller than most standing desks are because, well, I am tall. Got some iced coffee on top of the desk AS USUAL (seriously I drink so much coffee).

That giant red Sentry poster is from the video game Team Fortress 2. It’s a very nice poster and I’ve had it for around ten years!(!!!)

Next to the standing desk is this little CRT tv I’ve had for almost 15 years. It’s still going strong! I have it hooked up to a Chromecast, which is ridiculous, so I can cast Netflix or Youtube or anything else. But if I wanted to, I can swap the Chromecast for my SNES mini, which is hacked (duh) so I can play any SNES game that I want. I can also turn the whole table so I can sit on the window seat to play. Speaking of my window seat…

That window seat absolutely is the star of the room still. I built it years and years ago, with nothing but two by fours, a drill, screws, an old-fashioned saw, medium density fiberboard, and paint (and the help of Rob). Since it was built, I took some time to skim coat the whole thing in joint compound and caulked around the edge next to the windows. At some point someday I’ll caulk that gap between the window seat and the floor. For now just pretend like you don’t see that gap…

Anyway, the window seat is literally the size of a twin size bed in terms of surface area (it is HUGE) and I’ve taken long naps on it so many times. I love that thing and even though window seats aren’t cool anymore, I never regret installing it – it’s such a special part of my apartment.

Anyway, on the wall to the right are a couple of really wonky shelves I installed at like 10pm on a weeknight. They are so uneven and the screws are horribly visible, but I just don’t have the energy to take them down and reinstall them, so they’re here to stay for now (at least the wood is nice!). On top of them are a dying plant, some storage, and my Canon Pixma Pro-100. It is huge – it prints up to 13 inches by 19 inches.

I used to have an Epson Artisan 1430, which worked pretty well (though I could never get the colors exactly perfect) until one day when the warranty expired it just started to slowly die until it stopped working altogether. So. That’s neat!

Below the shelves I have my floor table and floor sofa. The sofa was given to me by a friend and it’s great – the whole thing pulls out into a giant lounge area and even a bed! It’s great. And my floor table has a legit, imported-from-Japan kotatsu heater attached to it. During the winter, we put a kotatsu cover (like a giant blanket) all around the table and turn the heater on. It gets super warm to put your legs under.

This is a marvelous invention and I don’t even care if it makes me seem like a weeaboo. I mean, Boston is really cold. REALLY cold. We get hit hard with snow, and this is by far the draftiest room in the apartment. It’s great to have an extra bit of warmth while I’m working.

On the windowsill is my radio and a speaker on top. I listen to the radio most mornings (88.9 WERS, baby!), and in the afternoons I use the speaker on top to stream podcasts and music from my phone. To the right is my art cart, which is just an Ikea cart that stores all my most-used art supplies. It is always a mess. There’s no cleaning it up for photos. I can’t live without this little cart – I can wheel it anywhere in the house so I can sketch on my couch or at the standing desk across the room without having to haul a ton of supplies. It’s great!

Above all this is my grid wall! I installed this with a few simple screws in studs, and I can hang inspiration, finished artworks, and posters and things without committing to a permanent arrangement. I loooove it. It’s so nice to be able to swap out artwork whenever I want.

And that’s it! I love working here, even with all the dying plants and messy art stuff. It’s really inspiring to come to this sunny, bright room every day and get to work. Now, to refinish those floors…

COMMENTS: 1

I LOVE and adore your studio so much…! It’s incredible, and I love the thought that’s gone into it. I’m actually most amazed by the CRT television. Holy shit haha. I remember feeling really off about the one my parents had because it was definitely not as strong as yours. 😂 It kept having problems.

I like the DIY standing desk! I bought a motorised one from IKEA. I was twiddling my thumbs as I thought about whether I should get one or not. I don’t think it gets a great deal of use… I remember to use it every now and then. 😜

I really love the window seat. It’s lovely ❤️ The grid is really nice as well!